Raquel

Raquel M. was born in the city of Maputo. She is 50 years old and has four children between the ages of 9 and 19. They all attend school. Raquel went to school until the fourth grade and then had to stop because of the difficult financial situation her parents faced when Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony.

Raquel went to live with her husband in the Boane district when she was 24 years old. She hasn't been anywhere else in the country since she left Maputo. She's worked selling meals in Boane's central market since 1986. She learned the business from her mother. She doesn't have any employees, and depends on her daughters for assistance. They alternate shifts when they're not in school.

She serves beef with xima (a type of Mozambican corncake or polenta), which she sells for 35 meticals a meal. Her monthly income is 4000 meticals, which she uses to support her family, and sometimes manages to save a little money in a local bank account.

Raquel has never received loans from other banks. She learned about Hluvuku-Adsema through friends. After the Boane office opened, she requested a loan in the amount of 8000 meticals, and further additional loans in the amounts of 10,000; 15,000; and 20,000 meticals, respectively. All of her loans have been used for the same purpose. Raquel will use this loan of 25,000 meticals to purchase ingredients for her meals and expand her business to respond to growing demand. She intends to pay off the loan in full without difficulty so she can request other loans that she will use to begin raising chickens.